---

Chisago Lakes school district administrative staff are a perfect example of the saying--  it never hurts to ask.

The district is taking delivery this school year of a number of items that are going to enhance facilities and student experiences when it comes to health. and costs of the items are being covered 90 percent by SHIP grants.

Successful applications for State Health Improvement Program funds resulted in Chisago Lakes winning funds for a new salad bar/breakfast bar stations in the high school and the middle school, heart rate monitors for high school physical education classes and new Hokki stools are now at the elementary schools.   Taylors Falls School is expecting a top-of-the line hydration station.

Primary and Lakeside schools got $3,000 ($1,500 mini-grants each) to provide the Hokki stools.  

The stool’s convex base lets users rock and twist and turn.  The reasoning behind using these stools is based on research that movement is one  beneficial  contributor in developing academic skills. Educators are finding out more and more about theories where the interplay of brain and body affects neural growth.

Chisago County Health and Human Services Director Nancy Dahlin explained that there’s such a variety of implementations for the SHIP mini-grants, that she plans to review the grants with communities that took advantage of the program. In areas of the county that did not, she’ll see if there’s anything that will help.   “We want to assure a good spread (of the mini-grants) throughout the county,” Dahlin explained to the county commissioners at a recent meeting.

The SHIP grants dispersed by the state go through the county health and human services department.  Businesses, workplaces,   as well as public entities, should feel free to see if a project qualifies.

---